Third person pov

Hitoshi turned out to be the perfect distraction. Attention shifted from Lillian to him instead as people marveled over the fact that they were getting a transfer, which wasn't unheard of, but was still pretty rare. Lillian's bright smile as she all but vibrated in her seat was all that was needed for Aizawa's day to be made. He hid his smirk in his scarf as Hitoshi processed, fidgeting in place. Shoto also had a small smile on his face, glancing at Lillian every so often to make sure she was still breathing. All his friends were nutcases or emotionally damaged. Or both. That's probably why he got along with them so well.

Having Hitoshi join 1-A was amazing. The only person missing was Neito, but Lillian and the rest of her friends would most definitely be looking into that. Lillian really appreciated all of her classmates, so she couldn't see anyone switching out anytime soon. They were amazing and talented, and she certainly didn't want anyone to be removed from the hero course. Neito being in 1-B wasn't ideal, but it was okay. At least he still went to this school! That was enough for her.

She wrote an essay about her internship like everyone else, barring Hitoshi of course. He was writing a paper on what he wanted to accomplish in the hero course and what sort of hero he wanted to be. It wasn't hard to answer. Like Mr. Aizawa, he really wanted to be an underground hero. His quirk was absolutely perfect for it. Lillian had it on good authority, and by that she meant Hitoshi had told her, that he was going to ask Mr. Aizawa to teach him how to use his capture weapon. Lillian thought that was an amazing idea! She was sure her... dad would say yes. That was still so weird to think about. Dad. Could she call him that? Was asking weird?

She'd texted Neito a few times to no avail. The freckled girl was still worried about him. She was exhausted, and that didn't help. Nor did the looks her peers sent her every so often. While they were pretty preoccupied with Hitoshi, ("I'm not here to make friends," he'd said when someone tried to engage him in conversation. How charming.) they were also still very curious about Lillian and her sudden increase in popularity. Apparently there were entire websites going up dedicated to her, centered around footage of her, quotes from her, audio from the radio show, and such of the like. It was all oddly detailed, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

Lillian's phone gave a quiet "It's Free Real Estate" to let her know someone had texted. Right now, they were pretty much allowed to do whatever as long as they were quiet and had their worksheets done by the end of the period. She fished out her phone hastily in hopes of a message from Neito, blinking. 

Blasted Pepper Son:
You look like something just crawled up your ass and died.

Tired and Freckled:
Wow, thanks. I try.

Blasted Pepper Son:
I didn't ask for your damn sass. What the fuck's wrong?

Tired and Freckled:
What's this??? Bakugo Katsuki??? Caring about the shit that crawled up my ass and died???

Blasted Pepper Son:
Shut the fuck up I'm trying to be

Tired and Freckled:
Trying to be....

Blasted Pepper Son: 
Just answer the fucking question!

Tired and Freckled:
You never let me have any fun, I swear

Tired and Freckled:
I'm just worried about Neito, that's all. He's been... weird. Hitoshi and I think something happened. If Shoto was more socially aware, he'd probably think so too. 

Blasted Pepper Son:
I'm sure he's fine and all that fuck shit. You guys are friends, so if some shit is going on, he'll tell you when he's ready. Trust and shit.

Tired and Freckled:
I know, I just can't help but be concerned! 

Blasted Pepper Son:
Well uh

Blasted Pepper Son:
Fucking stop?

*Freckled and Tired has changed Blasted Pepper Son's name to "Life Hacks: fucking stop"*

Life Hacks: fucking stop:

SHUT THE FUCK UP 

Lillian snorted to herself and slipped her phone back under her thigh, eyes going to the finished math worksheet sitting before her. Ectoplasm was doing god knows what on his computer. Probably playing Tetris again, but that was none of her business. Most of her classmates were quietly whispering to one another about their internships and all they got to do. Lillian's eyes strayed to Hitoshi, happy to see Izuku had turned around to engage him. He'd said he wasn't here to make friends, but he'd never said he was ditching the ones he already had.

She took a deep breath. Next up was Art History, so she'd surely see Neito then. There was a chance 1-B's first half of the day was going fairly different than 1-A's and there wasn't time to text. Or, Neito hadn't turned on his ringer. His phone was extremely new, after all. Lillian didn't doubt Neito was still trying to figure out the various mechanisms and functions it held. That, and he seemed to tune out mundane ringtones and other notification sounds. They all did, due to Shoto's games that often times had small beeping noises they'd all grown accustomed to. Now they had custom sounds.

Bakugo scowled to himself, glancing back at Lillian again as she put her phone away. The exasperated smile on his face brought him a wave of satisfaction as he flipped back around and drooped in his seat. At least she wasn't staring at her desk blankly like someone just kicked her puppy anymore. He understood, as he'd been up just as long as she had, maybe longer, but the zoning out is just creepy. 

Lillian took another deep breath, glancing at Ochako. The brunette hadn't really said much to her since getting back. She seemed almost nervous to address Lillian, which was odd. It made the freckled-girl a little uneasy if she was being honest with herself. She and Ochako had talked just fine before. Maybe she was looking too far into things. I mean, that would make sense, right? Right. She just needed to calm down and maybe go over some notes. After all, exams were coming up soon. Hitoshi was especially going to need help kicking it into high gear. Apparently, Gen Ed didn't have all the same classes the Hero Course did.

Lillian wondered how things would change from here one out. Her internship had changed a lot of things for her and her social standing. Lilian had always considered herself to be a bit of a nobody. Even after winning second place in the Sports Festival, she hadn't really considered that to be much of anything. But now people had their eyes on her specifically instead of all of UA as a whole. It made her uneasy. Was the League watching? Had she accidentally drawn attention to herself and her quirk, as well as to her friends?

Class went on as one might suspect when Hitoshi's phone gave an awkwardly loud "That's What She Said" that made half the room break into uncontrollable snickering. Ectoplasm didn't even flinch, seeming solely focused on what Lillian still suspected to be a game of Tetris. She swore she could see the little blocks reflecting in his helmet, but it was rather hard to tell from here. And when she squinted, they sort of looked like those gems in that one matching game-

Hitoshi stood from his seat, a frown deep set on his face. Pretty much everyone turned to him as his chair scraped against the ground with a loud screech. Jiro sent him a glare that told everyone she didn't appreciate the noise. Lillian's head cocked to the side slightly. Shoto glanced at her before copying the movement. Lillian was beginning to think the half-and-half boy was worse than Vlad the Nomu, who was the absolute copy king when it came to physical movements. Expressions... not so much.

"Mr. Ectoplasm." Hitoshi said nervously. He'd never had the man as a teacher, after all. "I just got an urgent text. Is it okay if Lillian and I respond to it?" The purple-haired boy gestured to the door, looking like he'd go regardless of what the teacher said. 

Ectoplasm looked up, taking in Hitoshi's drawn expression. His pinched brows and concerned frown, coupled by the fact that he was squeezing his phone so hard his knuckles were going white. Lillian was already standing anyway, and Shoto was prepared to 'make a scene' if required so that they could slip out the door. Lillian had no idea what this was about, but she had her suspicions. She hoped her suspicions were wrong.

"Fine. But you're not getting a pass. If you get in trouble, it will be on your own terms." Ectoplasm said cordially. Hitoshi's expression melted into one of relief, and he turned to Lillian. The class watched with varying amounts of confusion as the girl nodded to him before they darted out the door. Plenty of them had seen Lillian sitting at a table with their newest student before, but they hadn't realized just how close they were.

Bakugo pulled out his phone immediately, and nobody noticed. He shot Lillian a quick text asking her if everything was okay. After some hesitation, he'd also sent her a vague "and if shit happens and you need someone or some shit, I could... send someone... or some fucking shit. Or myself. Maybe." Not his smoothest move, but he didn't know how else to offer his support without making shit weird. It's not like he actually cared that much. He was just friends with her and there was an obligation. He was also the best at everything, and thus was the best at being a good friend. Obviously.

"Do you think everything's okay?" Izuku worriedly questioned, and everyone turned to Todoroki for answers. The teen didn't really mind that he'd been left behind. The meme three is always the meme three. They're his protection squad, essentially. He's never doubted that he's one of them, but there's certain, more delicate matters that he's not the best at dealing with. He's not exactly the most socially adept person, and he's fine with that. He'd prefer to avoid situations that require him to 'emote' more than he usually does.

"No." Shoto answered blandly. "Probably not."

Ashido failed to hide a snort.

In the hall, Lillian and Hitoshi had already taken off running. Hitoshi had flashed his phone at her. From Neito, it was a simple "SOS, Nurse" that had sent them both spiraling into an immediate panic. SOS wasn't something they'd ever used, but they'd all joked about it before. That if one of them were to send an SOS, they definitely needed help. Like, they were being held captive and being slowly tortured sort of serious. They'd been half kidding at the time, but had also been detailed enough for it to matter. Neito's odd behavior as of late attributed to their concern by a tenfold.

Recovery Girl's office wasn't too far. It was on the first floor, near the sports entrance for kids coming in from the gyms and training fields. This made it easier for students harmed in quirk training to get to her, and it allowed for any med-bots Recovery Girl sent out to return quickly and efficiently. Once again, both Hitoshi and Lillian praised Mr. Aizawa's training. Thanked the god's above for it, really. They'd have to grovel later. Or hug. You know what? Both was good. 

Hitoshi is usually pretty polite. You know, he knocks like a normal person. Waits to be called in. Then, he steps in respectfully and shuts the door behind him with a respectful nod towards whoever's in said room. It's just common courtesy. It's exactly what he was planning on doing this time, as well. If not for the fact that Lillian tore ahead of him. He can't help but feel thankful as she rips the door open and tumbles into the room as though an invisible force had yanked her in. He slid in after her.

Recovery Girl looked rather surprised to see them. Not a big shock. Lillian wondered distantly how Neito had texted Hitoshi without anyone knowing. Vlad King in Mr. Aizawa were there as well, along with Hound Dog and Principal Nezu. They all turned towards them at the sound of their unexpected entrance, but Lillian and Hitoshi were more focused on their shivering blonde friend to really acknowledge it. Both of them felt the air get sucked out of them.

Neito sat on one of the beds Recovery Girl had in her office, his shirt off. The bags under his eyes and the paleness of his skin made his eyes and hair look all the more vibrant. A stark white scar raked across his neck, disappearing around it and presumably going all the way around much to their growing horror. A scar both she and Hitoshi had both seen plenty of times on TV covered his front. It was shaped like a Y, and stitched up with surgical precision. An autopsy scar.

"N-Neito." Lillian whispered, eyes wide and tears filling them. Aizawa frowned. Her being here wasn't a good idea. When had the blonde brat had time to even call them here? Had he texted without looking?

"No need to worry, kids! Your friend is just fine." Nezu chirped. Not reassuring, but he was trying. Sort of. "Your friend may be without a pulse-"

Neito winced. Hitoshi choked: "He's without a what?"

"-but I can assure you that he's still functioning perfectly fine otherwise! Cognitive function has proceeded at a regular rate, and though attempts to resuscitate him-"

"Resuscitate-" Lillian squeaked.

"-have so far failed, so has killing him, and thus-"

"I'm sorry, killing him?" Hitoshi whispered harshly. Neito offered a shrug. Cyanide tasted really weird but all it did was make his mouth foam. He was pretty sure his throat closed up too, but he didn't need to breathe to stay working so it was fine.

"-you should calm yourselves, for your own sake's and for the sake of Monoma-kun here!"

"Principal Nezu, with all due respect, pawhaps you should have- ruff- kept some of that from the pups. At leash- least at first." Hound Dog cleared his throat, offering Lillian a smile. He was glad to see she was doing well. Well, as well as someone who'd gotten around two hours of sleep and had just found out her friend was apparently dead could be. Aizawa let out a sigh. This was going great. Swell. Lillian wasn't running on practically no sleep and way too much caffeine or anything, nor had she had a giant mental breakdown in the earlier hours of this morning! No, not at all!

"Don't worry, Lillian. We're going to get to the bottom of whatever's going on with Monoma. Apparently... something happened on his internship." Aizawa grimaced. He'd been given a brief rundown, and it wasn't pretty. Neito seemed to trust him the most out of all the adults, and hasn't hesitated to spill as much as he remembered to him in a flurry of tears and hyperventilation. Aizawa could only twitch and wish for a nap as the blonde wailed and panicked over his 'gorgeous complexion'. The fact he was worried about his skin's state was a clear sign he was doing better than before, if only a little.

"Wait a second." Lillian hissed. "This morning! O-On the radio! The described a corpse with your weight, hair color, height, everything. Was th-that you?!" 

Hitoshi looked fairly mortified by the prospect, and Vlad King winced. He didn't really know Lillian or Hitoshi, but he knew they were really close with Neito from what the rest of his class said. Neito had so far failed to make many good friends in 1-B, gravitating more towards a rather oddball group of previous loners that seemed to have banded together to create some sort of weird dynamic. Vlad King wasn't ragging on that or anything-- it was totally fine-- he'd just never seen it in all his time teaching.

"I... yeah, I woke up in a morgue. I sort of... freaked out and ran off, I guess." Neito's voice was scratchy from crying. "I... I-I'm dead." 

"...That's metal." Hitoshi breathed. Lillian elbowed him.

"S-So... what happened?" Lillian stuttered out, eyes distressed. Neito offered a weak smile, offering his hands to her so she could come forward. Hitoshi scooted closer to. The teachers stepped to the side, allowing them closer. After all, they'd just learned one of their best friends was apparently dead. But also not dead, if his ability to make quips about how his hair is still 'luscious and silkier than Nezu's fur will ever be' was anything to go by.

"I don't remember. Not all of it, anyway. I... I-I interned with the Songbird Hero, Jay." He looked pained. Hitoshi's eyes widened in surprise. He'd seen them while scrolling through the news idly just this morning. Apparently they were found decapitated. Based on the look on Lillian's face, she too had heard of them. Her eyes dropped to the scar around Neito's neck. The boy seemed morose and resigned as he sat there, clutching her smaller hands in his own. Hitoshi had only seen him that exhausted once, and it was when he tried to tame Hitoshi's hair as well as Lillian's in the same night. Not something you wanted to do.

"They... Th-They did that to you?" Lillian looked from his neck and into his eyes. They were watery, but not enough for any tears to fall. 

"From what Monoma has told us," Vlad King cut in, "he... did unfortunately bear witness to the deaths of Jay, his sidekicks, and most of his staff. He also... befell the same fate. Something saved him, hence why he's here. We're not sure what yet, or what the motive was. We were hoping to keep this one the down-low..."

"Sorry." Neito didn't sound the least bit apologetic. Hitoshi frowned.

"Doesn't it hurt? Are you... I mean, I know you're not okay, but all things considered?" Hitoshi asked, brain moving at a snail's pace. It would all hit later and he'd probably panic and cry, but that was a breakdown for an earlier, more ungodly hour of the morning. Nezu watched the interaction with keen eyes, looking between the three teenagers. He'd seen them work in tandem at the sports festival. Quite riveting! Very good publicity as well, but the display of Neito's quirk could have been why he was taken. It was, after all, extremely rare. To have a body equipped to take on almost any kind of quirk and withstand it?

"I'm alright." Neito supposed. "My dear skin, however, I can't say the same for."

"Oh woe is me." Hitoshi chimed sarcastically, and Neito cracked a grin.

"Whatever's keeping him functioning is a quirk. We think he copied it and it permanently affected his body, or something like that." Aizawa's hair rose, and his eyes flickered red. Lillian and Hitoshi watched in mute horror as Neito dropped like a sack of bricks, falling sideways onto the bed. Vlad King felt his stomach churn at his student's motionless body. Neito's hands felt icier in the girl's hands. "It can be erased, but it comes back when my quirk turns off."

Neito shot back up the second Aizawa's quirk was off, blinking rapidly and shaking his head from side to side as though to clear the dizziness. Hitoshi's delayed reaction came in the form of sputtering, as his friend had just fallen brain-dead before him, while Lillian's head whipped to the side. Her dad had just killed Neito! What if he hadn't woken up again?! Oh my god, they'd tested that. They'd erased whatever was keeping Neito from completely leaving this world and just hoped it wouldn't be gone forever! What if he hadn't gotten back up this time?! What if erasing it had adverse effects?!

Aizawa felt his shoulders tense as all the eyes in the room fell upon him. Lillian's glowing red eyes glared flatly at him, her hands squeezing Neito as her messy ponytail wafted upwards. He tried not to gape, he really did, but... but what the fuck? Since when had Lillian inherited that part of his quirk? Her mother's was temper related. Did that mean... that when Lillian got mad enough...

Neito's phone gave a shutter, and he whistled as Hitoshi leaned over to get a better look. Lillian blinked, looking away from her father abruptly and seeming to regain herself. Her ponytail dropped, leaving Vlad King, Recovery Girl, and Hound Dog to all stare in a dumbfounded manner. Neito showed Lillian the photo.

"We should start a daddy-daughter scrapbook!" He exclaimed with over-exaggerated giddiness. "Also, does this mean I get a funeral? I've always wanted to witness my own funeral. Oh my god, am I haunting you guys right as we speak? Someone direct me towards Best Jeanist. I promised myself I'd make his life hell after he had the call to design flared jorts." 

"...Oh my, did nobody realize Aizawa here was Lillian's father?" Nezu looked startled. "Silly me! I should have mentioned it at the beginning of the year staff meeting!"

If he weren't the principal, Aizawa would have smacked him over his furry little head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With Tsukauchi still on his case, Chad had been forced to switch out his plates and get his car a new paint job. Its gorgeous deep red had been traded out for a bland, flat off-white color that reminded him vaguely of eggs. It didn't give off the 'blood of my enemies carriage' vibe it had before, looking more like a hard-boiled egg than not, but Chad was a man willing to compromise to avoid police custody. That, and he wasn't sure what Eri and Vlad would do if he got himself arrested. Brad could barely take care of himself. The Termination was okay with Eri for twenty-four hours, but anymore and they risked the creature falling into a small coma induced by social interaction.

That being said, Eri was still at the apartment watching The Office dubbed in Japanese. It would teach her most of the things she needed to know about this world. He would have had Vlad join her, but Chad was shorter a murder partner. Vlad didn't have a hero license, but he also wasn't a human. That gave him a free pass, didn't it? He wasn't sure, but Tsukauchi was never going to catch his trash ass anyway so it didn't matter.

"Alright, Vlad, repeat the plan back to me." Chad encouraged. The creature stared blankly at him. Okay, so progress. Vlad's speaking ability still wasn't all there. Chad wasn't even sure he related words to objects. He knew who Eri was, and he knew Chad's name, Bakugo's, and maybe Lillian's. All that chanting at the concert had ingrained at least the name in his mind, even if he didn't realize it was a title belonging to someone. 

He mostly just randomly said words out of nowhere. He'd hear something, and then say it later. It was pretty weird, but Chad would take what he could get. It meant Vlad wasn't totally a mindless killing machine, right? He was sort of learning. Not well, but at least he was capable of thought. Maybe. You know, Chad really wasn't sure-

"Alright, that's fine. Respect, man. Respect." Chad offered, giving the hunched over creature a punch to the arm. The roof of the car was too low for the gangly beast to sit up straight, but he didn't seem to mind. "Cool. So uh... go in there and kill everyone for me please? Oh, but don't break my car door off again. Just open the door like normal."

Vlad gave a squawk before breaking Chad's car door off again, earning a sigh from the man. Shaking his head, he slid out of the drivers side and whipped out his high-powered rifles. Really, the automatic shit was the best. All he had to do was point and a spray of bullets would fly. Vlad was also surprisingly strong despite how thin he was. He could easily rip people's arms off. While Vlad would rather they go to prison and rot there, Vlad seemed to take joy in the little things in life. The little things being tearing people apart. So who was Chad to get in the way of that?

Screams erupted in the air as Chad flipped on his sunglasses, hoisting up his weapons with a wild grin. He'd find this "Overhaul" bastard eventually. It was only a matter of time.

~~~~~~~~

I forgot to tell y'all, but I'm going to post that uhhhh, mind reader girl thing on Easter, which is on Sunday for those who are unaware.

No I don't own the cover art. Hopefully I can eventually get some like uh,,, art specifically for said book done, but until then we're stuck with this. 

Here's the description below. It's really shitty and like, the first draft, so don't @ me I know it's cheesy as all fuck.

Harper Rye can, to put it simply, read minds. It's not something she consciously does. Her quirk simply allows her to pick up people's thoughts, regardless of whether she wants to or not. The fact that she can't turn it off makes having such a power nearly unbearable. To make matters worse, she's somehow managed to fall under the radar of the super-genius principal of UA high, Nezu. He's sure there's a traitor amongst them, and is convinced Harper is the key to finding them and shutting them down.

Plunged into a world she never wanted to be in, Harper finds herself on the fast track to becoming a hero, maybe managing to make some friends for once in her life, and quite possibly saving Japan from near-certain destruction.